Bike Boom 2008

[Guest]

Re: Bike Boom 2008

moved down

[Guest]

Re: Bike Boom 2008

Gawd. This thread is about as gripping as the forty thousand yard long car threads. "I got these wheels, an' you got those wheels, and yestiddy we had those other wheels, and tomorra we'll get these newer wheels, and looka what wheels that other guy's got, ovah theah?? :rolleyes:

[dbarberic]

Re: Bike Boom 2008

Gawd. This thread is about as gripping as the forty thousand yard long car threads. "I got these wheels, an' you got those wheels, and yestiddy we had those other wheels, and tomorra we'll get these newer wheels, and looka what wheels that other guy's got, ovah theah?? :rolleyes:

Mmmmm..... carbon..... need carbon....

[metalman]

Re: Bike Boom 2008

Gawd. This thread is about as gripping as the forty thousand yard long car threads. "I got these wheels, an' you got those wheels, and yestiddy we had those other wheels, and tomorra we'll get these newer wheels, and looka what wheels that other guy's got, ovah theah?? :rolleyes:

then don't read it. anyway, better than reading one of your old 10000 word dissertations on leeb.

[Jay]

Re: Bike Boom 2008

I strongly recommend to readers who ride: wear a helmet. A modern one is so light you can hardly tell it's there.

I work in an Emergency Department and have seen many fatal and permanently disabling injuries that could have been simply avoided by helmet use. These are tragedies that tear apart families and ruin lives. This is the stark truth. You can make other arguments until you are blue in the face, and you can have the opinion that helmet use is silly or an infringement on your rights and that may be valid but doesn't alter the fact that people die because they don't wear one. There are many people would be alive, walking, able to feed themselves and go to the bathroom on their own if they only had enough sense/knowledge to wear a helmet. You can tweak any study you want to make things seem other than they appear and the itulip audience knows this fact better than most. A study purporting benefits to not wearing a helmet doesn't pass the sniff test to me, and I am right in the middle of this issue.
Wear a helmet on a bike, pedal and motor, wear your seat belt in a car, don't drink too much, don't smoke at all, eat well and exercise. It is pretty simple really.

[Rajiv]

Re: Bike Boom 2008

Jay,
I totally agree with you on this -- it is just the legislative part of it that I have an issue with -- can you legislate "common sense?"

[Jay]

Re: Bike Boom 2008

Jay,
I totally agree with you on this -- it is just the legislative part of it that I have an issue with -- can you legislate "common sense?"

The problem with the helmet issue and other similar issues is that a devastating head injury doesn't just cost the injured and their family, but it has huge costs to society in productivity losses and giant, giant health care costs. Remember that most of the injured are young, healthy, working people. If you believe in a safety net at all, as I do, one in which the costs are shared by society as they must be in that type of system, then the only logical conclusion is to support helmet legislation, it is low hanging fruit as they say.

[moonshot]

Re: Bike Boom 2008

I purchased Shimano shares (pink sheets: SHMDF, Tokyo: 7309) last year. It's had a good run since, and while I don't plan on adding to the position (it's my second largest single name exposure), I would like other ways to buy into the expected cycling boom.

[dbarberic]

Re: Bike Boom 2008

A few of my local businesses did not have bicycle racks in front of their stores. A few months ago I made made the switch to use my bicycle for local runs rather than car and noticed that many others were using bicycles too, but where having to lock them to sign posts and lamp posts because no good bicycle racks were provided.

I spent the last week contacting local businesses and a great number of them took to the suggestion to adding bicycle racks in front of their stores. I'm very excited how responsive many of them were. A few of them within two weeks had bicycle racks!

For those of you out there who want to do local runs on your bike, I suggest that you reach out to the managers of your local businesses and suggest that they add bicycle racks. The positive response to my suggestions has been great.

[metalman]

Re: Bike Boom 2008

A few of my local businesses did not have bicycle racks in front of their stores. A few months ago I made made the switch to use my bicycle for local runs rather than car and noticed that many others were using bicycles too, but where having to lock them to sign posts and lamp posts because no good bicycle racks were provided.

I spent the last week contacting local businesses and a great number of them took to the suggestion to adding bicycle racks in front of their stores. I'm very excited how responsive many of them were. A few of them within two weeks had bicycle racks!

For those of you out there who want to do local runs on your bike, I suggest that you reach out to the managers of your local businesses and suggest that they add bicycle racks. The positive response to my suggestions has been great.

no passive, whining dinks here. go get 'em dee.

[Basil]

Re: Bike Boom 2008

I love biking, own two and am about to buy a third: one bike weighted down with all the racks for carrying this that and the other thing (I often need to take my laptop with me and a few books), one for cruising fast when it is only me and I can fly, and one for slogging through snow and ice. For anyone who is interested great deals can be found on Craig's List, though you do need to have some idea of what you are looking for. Many people think they are going to start biking, then buy a fancy bike, ride it very rarely and sell it to make more space or pay a bill, sometimes for a song.

Contrary to popular opinion, biking can be done in any weather: see www.icebike.org (though this guy is a bit crazy). I have special tires with studs for the winter. One of my most sadistic pleasures is biking through stalled traffic in a blizzard, great work out as well. My daughter needed new boots for the snow this past winter and there is no way I could have gotten them by car.

In an earlier comment, someone mentioned that he does not bike because he takes his son to kindergarten. I take my daughter to daycare on my bike and she loves it, though we are about to move her to a daycare to which we can walk.

EJ is right, one absolutely must have a helmet. But when commuting, a bike helmet is only one part of the safety equation. One also needs lights, I have a generator hub on my main ride, so mine never go out, and mirrors, that glance over the shoulder allows too much time for something bad to happen in front of you. Fenders call also be considered a safety feature, as water shooting in your face can be quite a distraction.

If more people embraced the joys of commuter biking the world would be a better place. My wife remarks on how much happier I am when I bike regularly and my coworkers notice it as well (we had a baby a few months ago :eek:, and I slacked off).

I have two local stores I deal with for my biking needs and both have remarked on the increased business. One said that they have a two week plus back up in the shop, the other mentioned that they have been outfitting many more bikes for commuters, with fenders and lights, over the past few months.

If gas prices continue to rise, I imagine that we will see much more of the same.

Basil

[Andreuccio]

Re: Bike Boom 2008

In an earlier comment, someone mentioned that he does not bike because he takes his son to kindergarten. I take my daughter to daycare on my bike and she loves it, though we are about to move her to a daycare to which we can walk.

That was me. It wasn't that I couldn't get him on the bike. I didn't even look at that issue, though I'm sure I could have resolved it. The problem was the timing didn't allow for it. The earliest I could drop him off before school was 7:15 am. (There was no adult supervision at the school earlier than that.) I needed to be at work by 7:25. Since it was about a 20 minute ride for me, it wasn't possible.

[Basil]

Re: Bike Boom 2008

That was me. It wasn't that I couldn't get him on the bike. I didn't even look at that issue, though I'm sure I could have resolved it. The problem was the timing didn't allow for it. The earliest I could drop him off before school was 7:15 am. (There was no adult supervision at the school earlier than that.) I needed to be at work by 7:25. Since it was about a 20 minute ride for me, it wasn't possible.

Totally understandable. I often forget that I benefit from a very flexible work schedule.